Saturday, 24 September 2011

Aubergine pesto

When I made this I left some of the garlic raw, but I think it's best to cook it all. It also occurred to me that replacing basil with rosemary could be really nice, or maybe just some of it. It makes it less like traditional pesto but sounds tasty!

Gas mark 6

1 medium aubergine
3 cloves of garlic
2 large handfuls of pine nuts
Bunch of fresh basil (about 30g)
Olive oil
Salt
Sprinkling of dried basil

-Put the pine nuts in a pan with NO OIL and fry for just a couple of minutes until they start to brown.
-Slice the aubergine, sprinkle it with salt and leave in a colander for 30 minutes or so, rinse off the salt then squeeze out the excess moisture and pat dry (this isn't 100% necessary, but most like to do it to reduce bitterness).
-Roughly chop the aubergine into chunks, chop the garlic, and roast together mixed with dried basil until the aubergine has softened.
-Once cool, put the aubergine and garlic in a blender, adding the pine nuts and basil.
-Blend and add oil until the desired consistency is reached.

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